Alabama

DESTIN, Fla. -- SEC athletics directors have agreed to submit their men's basketball nonconference schedules for review by the conference office in an attempt to help the league's NCAA Tournament chances.

The SEC put only three teams in the NCAA Tournament last year. The conference is still developing a process on how to analytically review nonconference schedules through Ratings Percentage Index numbers.

"Think about it like a stop light," SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said today. "Some (teams) will be in a green zone, some will be in a yellow zone, and some of them might be in a red zone."

Former NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen visited with SEC basketball coaches to discuss scheduling. The coaches discussed what nonconference schedules should look like if teams are upper tier, middle tier or rebuilding.

"I think what will happen is this is going to shift into (the SEC office saying), 'If you know you're in good shape, run with it; if you have some issues, talk to us,'" Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "I think it's good. There's no the league is going to do our schedule. Good luck with 14 teams trying to do that."

Among the SEC teams with the worst nonconference schedules last year: Auburn and South Carolina.

"Our nonconference strength of schedule last year was 336. That's unacceptable," Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said. "That impacts every team in our league in a negative way. For example, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky got left out of the NCAA Tournament. They had decent RPIs. If my nonconference strength of schedule would have been 230 instead of 330, then their RPIs are in the 40s and now I think maybe two of the three of them get in."

Playing stronger schedules may not necessarily be the answer for different teams, Georgia coach Mark Fox said.

"I mean if everybody just played a strong schedule and got their brains beat in, that doesn't necessarily help us," Fox said. "You have to beat the best teams you can beat and there's a strategy to that. Not every team should schedule the same way."

Calipari said a different nonconference schedule wouldn't have impacted Kentucky one way or the other last season.

"What we're trying to say is we're all tied to each other," he said. "If your nonconference schedule is really bad, it's affecting us. This scheduling stuff has become an art in and of itself."

There is a tried and true solution for the SEC getting more NCAA Tournament teams.